The Dark Arc
by RexHeller
Summary: I'm John Dark, a criminal, vagabond and asshole. This is the story of how I came to Vale, fought some people, made some friends, fought some more people, learned something about myself and became less of an asshole. Maybe. Jury's still out on that last one. Warning: OC focused and AU. Rated T because of language and violence.
1. Chapter 1:New Town

_Disclaimer: The following in a fan-made story written for fun. RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. Please support the official release._

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><p>Let's see, where to start? I guess if I have to start somewhere, it would be on the train. Wait, my name? Oh, right kinda slipped my mind. I'm John Dark. Pleasure to meet ya and all that. Back the story. It was ten minutes from the station and I had just gotten out of the shower. Yeah I had a shower. My room was first class, real swanky. It had a shower, a full bed, a full closet and, best of all, a mini-bar. I even paid for it. The room, not the mini-bar.<p>

Anyway, I went about my business, getting dressed and that shit. I wore what I always wear. Black tank top and jeans. Black and red sneakers. Then came my armor. Custom tailored just for me it consisted of a nano-carbon weave long-sleeved shirt with neo-ceramic armored plates sewn into it on my chest, back and arms along with subtle padding through out. The actual shirt was white while the armored plates where black. Lightweight, above average protection that allowed absolute freedom of movement, all wrapped up in casual style. It even had a sheath for my sword built into the back armor. Over top of that went my jacket, black leather with a red silk lining, leaving it unzipped. Of all the things I own, that jacket is the only thing I consider irreplaceable. After all, who wouldn't form an emotional attachment to the first thing you ever stole.

Don't look at me like that. Yeah, I'm a criminal. That doesn't mean you get to judge me. I enjoy the freedom. Being able to do what I want when I want. And it's not like I never paid for anything in my life. As I said, I paid for first class train ticket. No, not with stolen money. How'd I make the money? Bounty hunting and selling stolen loot mostly. Look, do you want to hear my story or not?

So yeah, leather jacket, first thing I ever stole. Not really important right now, and there's not much of a story to it anyway. After I got dressed I checked my weapons. First came my sword. Not much to talk about there. It's a bastard sword so I can wield it with one or two hands. I usually dual wield it with my gun though. Anyway, there's not much special about it. It's not like it transforms or anything. Doesn't even have a name. It does have hollow handle though, so I can put Dust in it so I can use elemental attacks. The mechanism's kind of like sliding in a new magazine into a pistol. So when I change dust capsules in combat it's like I'm reloading my sword. That's kind of cool I guess. So after I checked to make sure my sword was clean, undamaged, and loaded with a magazine full of Burn Dust it went in the sheath on my back.

Next came my gun, a Lightning Hawk magnum pistol. Produced by that Atlas Corporation. Yeah, I know. By now you're probably used to super-complex custom built weapons that have 7 different forms and shoot rainbows, right? Well I'm sorry if I'm _boring _you. But the lightning hawk is a great gun. Semi-automatic with a seven round clip, it's powerful enough to shoot though bulletproof glass, most light armors or the skull of a boarbatusk. It's highly customizable, a feature I didn't take advantage of, and could fire Dust rounds, which I did. Mine was matte black with a red chrome grip and trigger. It went in my shoulder holster under my jacket.

Finally I checked myself in the mirror. Standing there was a young, good looking 17-year old with dark red eyes and messy pitch-black hair. I ran a hand through my hair to straighten it out a little. I've never seen the need for a comb seeing as how my hair looks good enough naturally. I double-checked everything before I was satisfied with how I looked. I don't usually take so much care with my appearance, but I had a job interview in town. The sort where it's expected you show up armed.

My timing was pretty good because as soon as I was done the whistle blew to announce we had arrived at our destination. I grabbed my duffel bag full of extra clothes and ammo and made my way to the exit. I stepped off the train, blinked a few times to get used to the sun in my eyes and took my first breath of fresh air in Vale.

Sometimes I wonder if I should have stayed on the train.

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><p><strong>Hey guys, what's up?<strong>

**Welcome to the Dark Arc! This is my first attempt at an OC story, as well as my first attempt at first person. Please tell me how I'm doing. If John seems a little plain, well there's a reason for that. I started writing this as because I needed a break from my other projects, which are taking longer, and because I was suddenly inspired and I needed to start writing this. Hopefully the next chapter will also be written quickly so that I can reveal what actually inspired me. I finished this chapter in a day so the next should be up tomorrow. **

**If you're wondering what John's armor looks like (I'm not sure I did a good job describing it) it was inspired by Batman's armor in the Dark Knight movie. That should give you a good idea of what I was going for. I might eventually put up my own drawing of what he looks like somewhere. Probably. Maybe.**

**Don't get your hopes up.**

**And that's it for now. If you'll excuse me, I need to go write the next chapter before it escapes and runs of to wherever inspiration goes to die.  
><strong>

**Reviews are nice!**

**-Rex Heller**


	2. Chapter 2: New Job

Sooooo, yeah. Sorry about leaving you hanging like that. Got called away on a job. Anyway, where were me? Right, Vale. Nice enough town. Has a certain flavor to it. Really, though, the only practical difference between it and Atlas is that Vale's slightly less technologically advanced. All that means is that there are less electronic locks to hack and the cops aren't robots. Anyway let's skip the part where I spent the afternoon wandering around like a tourist and get straight to the job interview.

That evening I went to the warehouse in the shipping district that I was told about. I was let in by some goon in a cheap red and black suit. I'll say this for Junior; I like his color scheme. The suits and fedoras are just tacky though. Seriously, who's he trying to fool? Everyone knows that if you're hiring muscle from him, then muscle is all you're hiring. They don't need to look smart. Dressing your monkey in a suit doesn't make him any less of a monkey.

But, yeah, Junior. Decent enough bad guy. I knew him back in Atlas, before he moved to Vale to open up a new club. The cops where getting too close to him, you see. I pulled a few jobs for him. He's actually the one who set me up with the job.

Where was I? Oh yeah, the warehouse. It was large and filled with boxes. Busy too, with more of Junior's goons moving the boxes around. Look, what'd you want, it was a warehouse! Anyway, the middle of the floor was clear and I was told to wait there for their boss who was out on a job. Two other guys where also hanging around just waiting. They both wore the basic White Fang uniform. Back then I didn't know much about the White Fang and I didn't really care. If pressed for an opinion I guess I would've said I admired them for fighting for the freedom.

After waiting for probably ten minutes the roof of the warehouse opened up and a battered bullhead came in for landing. After landing the sides opened up and even more goons came stumbling out. They looked like they had taken a beating, but seeing as how most of them had duffel bags full of dust with them I figured that their mission had at least had some success. Next off the airship was a woman in a red dress. Her face was in shadows or covered by her black hair whenever I looked at her though. Didn't stop her from being one of the hottest women I've ever seen though. Seriously, she was a bombshell. Anyway, she walked off with the White Fang guys.

Finally the man I was here to see exited the bullhead. Roman Torchwick: the most wanted man on Remnant back then. Criminal mastermind, pretty-boy extreme and, hopefully, the man who would be paying my bills for the next few months. When he saw me, he walked over while pulling out a cigar.

"So, do you feel _cool _yet?" I asked as he lit the thing. I couldn't help myself.

He just glared at me. "What are you talking about?"

"You know those things'll kill you, right?" I said pointing the cancer stick. I honestly don't get why people smoke. The only thing you get out of it was a painful, slow death. Not that I really care. People can do what they want; I'm not their mom.

"Now is that really the way you want to start off our working relationship, John?" he asked sarcastically. I don't know how he does it but everything Torchwick says sounds sarcastic. That, or arrogant. Or both.

I shrugged. "Well, I figure a couple of things. First, my reputation speaks for it self. Second, I know where this warehouse is and it'd be a pain to have to move if someone told the police. Third, you'd rather have me working for you instead of competing with you. Which I will, seeing as how I blew most of my cash on the train ride out here. I don't exactly have the funds to go back."

"Taking all that into account, I pretty much already have the job. You might as well get used to my attitude now." I finished with a smug grin. Torchwick looked annoyed, obviously. I have that affect on people.

"Be that as it may, you still need to be tested." He grabbed the attention of two guys that were slaking off. "You two. Kick his ass." They both grinned and pulled out pulled out a long, curved, red knife each. Then they charged me.

I just pulled out my Lightning Hawk and shoot one of the guys in both of his feet, freezing them to the ground. I had loaded Freeze Dust earlier. I pointed my gun at the other guy but he had reached me by then and swung at my next.

Instead of dodging I just leaned back a little and let the blade pass by harmlessly. Then I shot him in the balls. When he went to grip his frozen junk I froze his hands in place too. With him waddling around, hunched over like… like… OK I can't think of a good analogy. Let's just say it was hilarious and he wasn't a threat.

Anyway, with that guy neutralized I turned my attention back to the one. He was to busy trying to free his feet to notice my approach until I was right in front of him. When he looked up I punched him in the face and knocked him out cold. Unfortunately for him his feet were still frozen to the floor so when he fell over he broke his ankles.

Now I know it probably sounds like I'm embellishing to make my self look better. I swear that's actually how it went. It wasn't even that badass. Those guys just sucked. Seriously, a fifteen-year old could beat them.

With that done I turned to Torchwick, fully expected him to say something demeaning. Instead he just nodded and pulled an envelope out of his pocket. "Well, you're not incompetent, which is a step up from the current help. Meet me here tomorrow at 7:00 PM and we'll see how well you do in the real world." I was thinking about telling I had lots of real world experience, but I thought decided not to. In this business seeing is believing after all.

"Here." Torchwick said, handing me the envelope. "This the key for the apartment we've set up for you, as well as the address. Now get out of here." And with that I was dismissed.

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><p>I'm gonna skip forward a bit here. The apartment was decent, if small. The next night I went oh a robbery with Torchwick. It went off without a hitch, so Torchwick gave me the job of running missions on my own. Over the next two weeks I pulled off various robberies for him, mostly Dust stores, but sometimes banks or weapons shops. Sometimes I worked with Junior's men but I also ending up in charge of the White Fang from time to time. Junior's guys were easy enough to work with, even if they were dumb as rocks. The White Fang were dicks though.<p>

It was two weeks after I arrived in Vale that I first ran into _that bastard_. It was supposed to be a routine job. We were hitting a dust shop and I was in charge of probably seven of Junior's mooks. Something like that anyway. None of us knew how to fly an airship so we were using a truck to transport the stolen goods that night. Anyway, we went in, the goons started grabbing the Dust, I threatened the shopkeeper, perfectly normal.

Oh, right! The shopkeeper! I gotta tell you about this guy. He couldn't have been more 4-and-half feet tall and he was fat as a whale. Seriously, he was spherical. He looked like a beach ball with arms, legs and a head glued on. I shouldn't laugh, he clearly had some kind of health problem, but come on. If you tipped him over you could of rolled him down the street.

Anyway, five minutes latter the guys had about half the Dust loaded and I was playing with my sword, bored out of my mind. Which was when our watchman got thrown through the front window of the store. I lazily turned around, leaning my blade against my shoulder, trying my best to look effortlessly confident. As a criminal, the last thing you want to do is look nervous. Especially if you're in charge.

I wasn't nervous though. I was ecstatic. I could barely keep my grin down to a smug smirk. Finally something interesting was happening. Maybe I'd finally be able to fight someone challenging. For the first time since I arrived in Vale I felt that thrill that first got me hooked on crime.

So, yeah I turned around and that was when I saw _him_. Jaune Arc_. _I learned latter that he was in town that night with his team to celebrate. Something about him single-handedly beating a huge ursa. Or was it that stood up to a bully. It doesn't matter. At first he didn't look like much. A scrawny teenager dressed in a black hoodie, jeans, and plate armor. He held a sword and shield but his stance was way off. Really unimpressive. But then I saw his face.

It was like looking in a mirror. Sure, his hair was blonde, and his eyes where blue. Sure, he had a nervous expression on him that would never fit my face. But I was my face. And just one thought ran rampant through my mind.

Why did he have my _Face_?

Why did he have _My _face?

WHY DID HE HAVE MY FACE?!

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><p><strong>Hey guys, what's up?<strong>

**So, do I have your interest now? I just want to thank everyone who took a chance on this and decided to read. The summery makes it seem like this is some generic OC fic. I'll probably change it later after I come up with a better one. **

**So, yeah, John Dark looks like Jaune Arc's evil twin without the beard. For those wondering, this was inspired by the first fight scene between Sonic and Shadow from Sonic Adventure 2. Don't worry, this isn't going to have anything to actually do with the plot of Sonic Adventure 2, I just liked the fight scene.**

**Incase you're wondering, the meeting with Torchwick takes places right after first episode of RWBY. So, basically while Ruby's getting invited to Beacon by Ozpin, John's getting hired by Torchwick.**

**Anyway, here are the Review Responses.**

**LiveandSound: You are brilliant. It deserves to be said again. You, Sir, are brilliant. You perfectly summed up both my fears of how people would react and my hopes for what people would think when even I couldn't. I hope your fears of self-insert crap are banished now. And don't worry. John Dark doesn't get angsty. He gets angry.**

**And that's it for now! Next chapter we have our first real fight scene! But for now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go pretend to be a properly functioning human being capable of social decorum.**

**Reviews are nice!**

**-Rex Heller**


	3. Chapter 3: New Rival

Sorry about that. Kinda got lost in the memories there. Lost my temper. You didn't need that wall, right?

…

OK, fine. I'll pay for it. But anyway, back to the story. Where was I? Oh yeah, first time I met Jaune. Right. Well, as you can tell I wasn't very happy to find some idiot that looked like me. Something about him just pissed me off. So I anybody would when confronted with someone who just pisses you off for no reason. I tried to kill him.

I pointed my gun at his face and pulled the trigger three times. He raised his shield and blocked the bullets but unfortunately for him that action blocked his vision. I took the opportunity and rushed him. As he brought down his shield I punched him in the face and knocked him on his ass. Then I stomped down on his chest and pointed my sword at his neck. I laughed and told him what I thought of him. "Look, I don't know who you are or why you look like me but you are just embarrassing." Then something hit me like a truck and sent me flying.

I slammed into the truck we were using to steal the dust, leaving a dent. I shook my head and stood up, looking for who or what hit me. Turns out it was a girl. An absolutely beautiful girl. I mean, just wow. She had bright red hair pulled back into a ponytail and vibrant green eyes. She wore bronze arm and leg guards, leather armor, black heels and a matching miniskirt with a red sash tied around her waist. She had the cutest look of concern on her face, which was, annoyingly, directed at the idiot I had just knocked into the pavement. "Ok," I said, drawing the girl's attention back to me, "Who the hell are you?"

One of the goons loading the truck dropped the box of dust he was carrying. We were lucky it didn't explode. "Are you kidding me? That's Pyrrha Nikos!"

I shrugged. "Who?"

"She graduated at the top of her class at Sanctum Academy."

"Never heard of it."

"She won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row."

"The what?"

The guy I was talking to facepalmed. "She's on the front every box of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes."

I looked at the girl and raised an eyebrow. "That was you? Man, that cereal sucked."

She just glared at me and raised her weapons. I turned to the mook beside me. "Aw crap, I think I pissed her off. Tell the guys to load up what ever Dust they have in their hands and get out of here. I'll keep Red here distracted." I tilted my head at Pyrrha when I said that just to make sure he knew who I was talking about. Can't be too careful with those idiots. He rushed off to get it done, so I focused on my opponent.

Like the idiot with my face, Pyrrha was equipped with a sword and shield combo. Unlike that embarrassment, Pyrrha actually looked like she knew how to use them. I sighed, holstered my gun and settled into a proper two-handed combat stance. We cautiously approached each other and began to circle, looking for openings. She didn't present any, so I lost patience and attacked. She blocked and counted. I dodged and swung again. We traded a few blows like that, just to get a feeling for each other. Eventually I blocked one of her blows and knocked her shield out the way, which left her wide open. I swung at her shoulder… and missed. Then she kicked me and backed up a few steps, putting some space between us. I shrugged and charged right back at her.

As we fought I realized two things. One, she was better then me, which was impressive seeing as how I was trained basically from birth. Not much better mind you, but better. She managed to land a few hits on me as the fight went on, not that it bothered me much. I have a lot of Aura so I don't mind taking some punishment.

The second thing I figured out was that she was cheating some how. I figured something was wrong the third time I missed. You see, it's normal in a fight to miss once or twice. Sometimes you misjudge distance, or you're timing's off, or you're just plain unlucky. But more then that? Shouldn't happen if you're any good. And I'm talking about actually missing here, not when your opponent dodges or blocks. But while fighting Pyrrha I just. Could. Not. Hit her. Every time I thought I had her, my blade would miss by less then an inch.

So yeah, by the third time it happened I figured something was wrong, and I started to focus on every little thing, trying to figure out what was wrong. The fifth time I missed I realized that my sword would move slightly just as it was about to hit her. It wasn't something you'd normally notice, but I was looking for it. But that gave me an idea of what I was dealing with. But at this point the truck had left, and Jaune was getting up so there wasn't any reason to stick around. I decided to leave testing my theory for later and get out of there.

"Well Red, it's been fun, but I gotta go. I'd love to dance with you again sometime, though. Just let me tie a few loose ends." As I said that I backed off from her, pulled out my pistol and aimed at the blond idiot. He was still too out of it to realize what was going on but Pyrrha did. She leaped in the way and blocked just as I emptied the rest of my clip at him. While she was distracted I ran into the nearest ally way and made my escape. As I was running I heard her cry out "Jaune! Are you all right?"

A few blocks later I stopped running and leaned against a wall. I took a deep breath and thought back on what happened. _Who was that guy? Why did he look like me? That girl, Pyrrha? She called him Jaune. _

I straightened up and started walking again, grinning. _Jaune, huh? His name even sounds like mine. Well whatever. The next time I see him, that imposter's dead._

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><p><strong>Hey guys, what's up?<strong>

**Sorry for how long it took to update this. Monty Oum's death kind of made it hard for me to write for a while. I'm also sorry if this chapter kind of sucks. I'm not the greatest at writing action. I know, I know. Action's kind of important to a RWBY story. Hopefully I'll get better in time.**

**I know this chapter's a little short but hopefully this makes up for it. Stat Sheets! That's right I'm such a big nerd I made a stat sheet for my OC. It's kind of a mix of Dungeons and Dragons and Fate/Stay Night, if that means anything to you. So with out further a due, here it is.**

Name: John Dark

Age: 17

Voice Actor: Troy Baker

Theme Song: "Broken" by Sins of a Divine Mother

Statistics:

Strength- B+

Endurance- A-

Intelligence- B-

Wisdom- D+

Dexterity- C-

Charisma- B-

Aura- A+

Common skills:

Combat ability: B+

How well one can fight on the level of Huntsmen and Huntresses. Henchmen, policemen, and basic robots are all F rank. Civilians don't have this skill.

Aura manipulation: D

How well one can manipulate ones Aura. C rank unlocks semblance. At B rank one can make their Aura flow into others, either as an attack or to heal them. (**AN: This may change as more about Aura is reviled in the Canon.**)

Dust manipulation: D+

How well one can manipulate Dust though ones Aura. (**AN: This may change as more about Dust is reviled in the Canon. The battle between Cinder and Goodwitch in episode 1 is an A rank battle.**)

Semblance: N/A

Semblance has not yet been unlocked.

Other skills:

Hacking: B-

John Dark can hack most standard electronic locks and computer security systems in person through a combination of both physical and digital means. He can also hack most sub-standard computer security systems while off-site through a network. He also has an above average, working knowledge of electronic security measures (cameras, metal detectors, etc.) and their countermeasures.

Semblance knowledge: A

John Dark has been trained to recognize and counter most semblances. Only the rarest semblances or any previously undiscovered semblances would give him trouble.

Driving: B+

John Dark is capable of driving any car, truck, motorcycle or similar ground vehicle with a high degree of skill. He can also hotwire any of the above. This skill does not transfer to other vehicle types, such as flying vehicles, or vehicles with non-standard control schemes such as tanks.

Criminal Contacts: C+

John Dark is well known in the criminal underworld of Atlas and Vale. As such he is capable of using his contacts to secure information, illegal goods, safe houses, and illegal employment in Atlas and Vale fairly reliably.

Legal Procedure: C+

John Dark has working knowledge of legal procedure. This knowledge has been obtained from experience and independent research, not formal training, and as such is incomplete and occasionally false. This knowledge can be used to avoid getting arrested, destroy evidence, and argue one's case in court.

Pickpocketing: C

John Dark is capable of picking the pockets of any one with a lower pickpocketing skill then him without detection. He is also capable of detecting when people with a lower pickpocketing skill then him attempt to pick his pockets.

Lockpicking: C+

John Dark is capable of picking most commercially available locks with the proper tools. He is capable of picking most sub-standard quality locks with improvised tools.

**And now, for comparison, here's Jaune Arc.**

Name: Jaune Arc

Age: 17

Voice Actor: Miles Luna

Theme Music: Not yet released

Statistics: 

Strength- C

Endurance- B

Intelligence- D-

Wisdom- D+

Dexterity- C-

Charisma- B

Aura- A+

Common Skills:

Combat ability: D

How well one can fight on the level of Huntsmen and Huntresses. Henchmen, policemen, and basic robots are all F rank. Civilians don't have this skill.

Aura manipulation: D-

How well one can manipulate ones Aura. C rank unlocks semblance. At B rank one can make their Aura flow into others, either as an attack or to heal them.

Dust manipulation: F

How well one can manipulate Dust though ones Aura.

Semblance: N/A

Semblance has not yet been unlocked.

Other Skills:

Guitar: B

Jaune Arc can play the guitar well enough that he could make money playing in the local bar.

Dance: Hip Hop: A

Jaune Arc is capable of flawlessly performing a complex, synchronized dance routine.

**And that's Jaune at this point in the time line. If he seems underpowered, that's because he just started training with Pyrrha and hasn't learned anything yet. Also he doesn't have many skills because he hasn't shown many skills on RWBY. Don't worry Jaune fans, he will grow stronger over the course of this fic and even unlock a semblance. Eventually.**

**And that's it for now! If you'll excuse me I'm go do research. Yeah…research. That's why I'm rewatching all of volume one and two. Totally not being lazy here.**

**Reviews are nice.**

**-Rex Heller.**

**EDIT: Added to skill sheets. More edits may come soon in order to increase the general quality of this chapter and previous chapters.**


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